Appendix 7. 



REPORT ON THE INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF 

 SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 



Sir : I have the honor to submit the following report on the opera- 

 tions of the United States Bureau of the International Catalogue of 

 Scientific Literature for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1917 : 



This international enterprise was, at the beginning of the present 

 war, being carried on through the cooperation of the 34 following- 

 named countries: Argentine Republic, Austria, Belgium, Canada, 

 Chili, Cuba, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, 

 Holland, Hungary, India and Ceylon, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New 

 South Wales, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Queensland, 

 Russia, South Africa, South Australia, Spain, Straits Settlements, 

 Sweden, Switzerland, United States of America, Victoria and Tas- 

 mania, and Western Australia. Each of these countries supported 

 a regional bureau whose duty it was to furnish to the<central bureau 

 in London classified index citations to all the scientific literature 

 published within their several regions. 



As the greater part of these countries are now actually engaged 

 in hostilities it is natural that scientific research and publication 

 would be much affected, and that such an international cooperative 

 enterprise as the International Catalogue would find itself in many 

 difficulties. Not only have the number of scientific papers being 

 published greatly decreased but the difficulty of preparing and pub- 

 lishing a regular index has increased owing to the impossibility of 

 obtaining necessary scientific and clerical assistance to aid in the 

 preparation and publication of the catalogue. The London Central 

 Bureau was, however, able to publish four volumes of the catalogue 

 during the fiscal year, these volumes were the twelfth annual issue 

 of Geology and the thirteenth annual issue of Chemistry, Anatomy, 

 and Botany. All of the eleventh animal issue has now been pub- 

 lished together with 15 volumes of the twelfth annual issue, 13 vol- 

 umes of the thirteenth annual issue, and 1 volume of the fourteenth 

 annual issue, making a total of 216 regular volumes published since 

 the beginning of the enterprise in 1901. In addition to these regular 

 volumes several special volumes of schedules, lists of journals, etc., 

 have been published. 



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